Category: Philippines 2006
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Kelly and I had such a wonderful time on our first visit to the Philippines. We were shown the greatest hospitality by our hosts, the Barin family. Many thanks to all of you for taking such good care of us while we visited. We’d also like to give a very special thanks to Grant and Sandy for agreeing to take us along in the first place. Thanks so much! We look forward to seeing all of you as soon as possible!

I made a second time-lapse while in Manila, hoping to catch the controlled chaos that is Manila traffic. I pointed the camera out of the sun roof of our vehicle and began snapping at what seemed like an opportune moment. I wanted to show how the traffic continues to move – albeit slowly. We rarely come to a complete stop despite the overcrowding. What you don’t see is how patient the drivers are with one another. People ignore lanes altogether and sometimes even drive against the flow, but I never heard a horn sounded in anger.

As luck would have it, traffic was lighter than it had been at any other time along this route, but once again, the results are pretty cool. I like to look at individual frames and check out the skyline and the hundreds of enormous billboards.

During our stay in Bohol, we visited the “centuries old” Baclayon Church and Museum. One of the most interesting facts about the beautiful old church is that it’s moss-covered walls are held together with the “white of a million eggs”.

This hard-working craftsman spends mornings hammering old automobile leaf springs into 10 knives per day with a minimum of precise hammer blows. The sweltering conditions mean a 5:00 AM to noon workday for this muscular man, who has obviously paid a heavy price for not wearing any sort of protective gear on his face. Our tour guide Neil displays the finished product.